Haier's Eye-Controlled TV is Now More Accurate, But Still Not Ready for Sale

Headquartered in Qingdao, China, Haier has been making consumer electronics products and home appliances for many years. At IFA 2013, it caught our attention with its improved yet again eye-controlled TV. The time round, it's using an improved camera developed by Tobii, which is now thinner, more responsive, and more precise in the tracking.

So, what can you do? In essence, after calibration, a user seated about 1m away from the Tobii camera is able to roll his or her eyes to control the TV. For example, you can scan through news and blink to select a story or website, or look at control icons at one corner of the screen and blink to select TV, videos or movies. To adjust volume, you blink to bring up the control panel and then look at the volume up and down icons. For photos, you can look left and right to move the carousel, and then blink to select the desired photo.

The product is still some time away from being ready for mass consumption as there are still some hurdles to cross. Ideally, users need not sit so near to the eye-tracking camera, and the ultimate goal is to build the sensor into the TV. Precision, while improved in the current iteration, still isn't perfect.

In other words, be prepared to stick to the traditional remote control for at least a few more years.